Blas'e meets Goth
by Rafi Fishman
Summary: Fred Leblanc meets Anette Freeze-Dright for the first time. Will it be love at first site, or will it take time?
1. Chapter 1

**(This is a Fred's Head fanfiction. It takes place before the series where Fred meets Anette for the first time.** **  
** **I love this show and just wish it wasn't so incredibly underrated.)**

 **September 3** **rd** **2006**

It was a new year at Saint-Jude's High school.  
All the jocks were catching up with each other and playing sports, the popular girls were preparing for the year's gossip, and the nerds, though feeling good now, were just waiting for something to go wrong for them.  
14-year-old Fred and his best friend GG were hanging out by the entrance talking about their vacations.  
"So, me and my beloved family were out enjoying the lovely countryside," said GG, "When suddenly out of nowhere, a family of rabid raccoons attacked our campsite, and ate all our meat! We had to survive on a vegetarian diet for a day and a half! Do you know what it's like for me to be without meat for that long?! I-It's like chicken soup without chicken, or a hamburger without the burger, o-or a delicious garlic sausage _**without pickled herring on the side!**_ But enough about me, tell me, how was _your_ adventurous vacation?"  
"Oh it was a real adventure," said Fred with his typical blasé expression, "I hung around the house, watched a little TV, and had to listen to my mom constantly bugging me to clean my room. Pretty cool huh?"  
"Oh, how I missed your intoxicating sarcasm my bosom buddy." GG said embracing Fred.

"Hey, get a room you too!" said a familiar voice. It was their other best friend, Fabienne Ledger walking toward them.  
"Hey Fab!" Fred and GG called back.  
They noticed someone else was walking with her.  
"Guys, I'd like you to meet my new friend, Anette Freeze-Dright. I met her over summer and she just started learning here".  
Anette had a quite unique appearance. She had pale skin, jet black hair and piercing eyes. She had somewhat of a mysterious look on her face.

"Hello", she said, "I suppose any friend of Fab's is a friend of mine."  
"You bet!" GG quickly replied while shaking her hand. "Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Gregory Gilbert Pyrowski but you may call me GG. And this is my best bosom buddy, Fred Leblanc."  
"Hi nice to meet you." said Fred. "Welcome to Saint Jude's. Y'know, just by looking at your expression, I can tell you're _really_ enthusiastic about starting a brand new year."  
Anette smirked a little.  
"Fab, I'm finding something interesting about your blasé friend's tone of sarcasm."  
Fred smiled. "Thanks, I guess".  
They stared at each other for a few seconds.

Just then, the school bell rang.  
"Well, it's time to get to class!" said GG, "It's a whole new year of meeting new people, new teachers, and learning new subjects!"  
"Yeah let's go." said Fab "Like he said, it's a whole new year of boredom."  
"See you guys in class", said Anette.  
"Yeah, seeya", Fred said back.

Fred noticed GG staring at him in a smug fashion.  
"What?" asked Fred.  
"Oh, you know."  
"What do I know?"  
"Don't tell me you've become as dense as an over-stuffed salmon with extra dressing."  
"Okay I won't, because I'm not."  
"Fred, you leave me no choice but to get straight to the point; Fabienne's friend has stolen your infatuated heart!"  
"You mean I'm in love with her? I think not."  
"But you two look incredibly compatible. She has black hair and dark eyes- you have black hair and dark eyes, she seems apathetic- you seem apathetic, she wears polka dots- you wear stripes! I'm telling you, you're a match made in heaven!"  
Fred rolled his eyes.  
"Look, Anette seems pretty cool and all, but appearances aren't everything. Plus, I barely know her."  
"Alright, whatever you say..."  
Fred sighed.

Halfway through the day was lunch break. Fred was on his way to the cafeteria, when he happened to overhear a conversation from the Hart trio.  
Penelope Truehart, Jody Goodheart, and Tamara Hartman were the popular girls who were always sharing school gossip.  
"Did you guys notice that weird new goth girl Fabienne's hanging with?" said Jody, the queen bee.  
"I know right?" said Penelope, the airhead, "Her hair's too straight, her nose it pointy, and she's in desperate need of a tan".  
"I personally don't find her appearance that unattractive," said Tamara, the most considerate, "but I get this weird feeling whenever I look at her".  
"Yeah, it's like she's starring into your _**soul**_ ", said Jody, "All I can say is: 'Good luck finding a boyfriend!'"  
The girls all laughed.

"Nobody makes fun of my best friend's friend," thought Fred. He was just about to walk up to the girls and tell them off, when…  
"You're the one to talk." said Anette walking towards Jody, "I don't care what you think of me, and just so you know, I'm not interested in a boyfriend right now. But what would you know anyway? You don't have one either because nobody wants to be in a relationship with a snob. That, in my opinion, is very sad and pathetic."  
The girls just stood there surprised by Anette's comeback. So was Fred.  
"Pffft w-whatever." said Jody, embarrassed. "Let's go girls."

As the Hart trio left, Fred walked up to Anette.  
"Wow, I never knew you had that kind of comeback in you," he said.  
"Oh, thanks. It was nothing", said Anette, "I guess I just call them as I see them."  
They both chuckled a little.  
"So," said Anette, "I guess I'll see you at lunch?"  
"Yeah, sure," said Fred.  
"Wow," he thought, "Mysterious _and_ independent. A rather unique combination."

Fred, GG, Fabienne, and Anette all sat together in the cafeteria.  
Anette talked a little about herself. Her favorite food was cheesecake, she had a pet doberman puppy, her family was wealthy, her dad's an ambassador, her mom's an ex-Bollywood star, and they live in a mansion in the upper-class part of the city.  
"Wait, your family's rich and your social status is at the bottom?!" said a shocked GG, "Why don't you tell someone? This could be your ticket to popularity!"  
"I don't care about being popular," said Anette, "I'd rather earn real friends instead of dealing with the popularity and fake friendships that come with wealth."  
"Exactly!" said Fabienne, "Which is why we all should avoid it, popularity has so many snares and no real benefit."  
"It's not worth risking your dignity over," said Fred.  
"If you have friends that actually like you, you're popular enough," said Anette.  
"Yeah, popularity is like a rotten shrimp," said GG, "It's...uh…bad? Okay, I got nothing."  
Everyone laughed.  
"So anyway, Anette," said Fabienne, "After school you wanna hang out at my place and watch a movie? I just bought this awesome horror B-movie, 'The Bloodying Creatures' on DVD."  
"Thanks, but I have those _plans,_ remember?"  
"Oh right, of course."  
"Plans? What plans?" asked Fred.  
"Oh you know," said Anette, "Sitting in a dark room with candles, writing depressing poetry, trying to communicate with the dead, the usual."  
"Yeah, just as usual as cutting open a salmon, spilling out it's organs, and leaving them for the cats to nibble on," complied GG.  
Fred gave him a shove.  
"Ow! Okay I'm sorry," he said.  
"It's alright," said Anette, "I get that a lot."  
"A lot of what?" asked Fred, "References to meat and guts?"  
Anette laughed.  
To Fred, there was something captivating about Anette's laugh. It had a pleasant and polite tone, like an English queen.

The school bell rang again, and everyone went back to class.  
"So, were you defending Anette just now?" GG whispered smugly to Fred.  
"Well, yeah," he said, "Wouldn't _you_ do the sameif someone made fun of what _I_ do in my spare time?"  
"Perhaps, since your collection of useless objects is somewhat out of the ordinary, but that aside, I'm sure, with time, once you get to know her…"  
"But nothing! Sure, Anette has some really nice qualities, but I just don't like her that way. Can you please just live with that and get on with your life?"  
GG sighed. "You really know how to break a poor guy's romantic spirit, huh?"  
"C'mon," said Fred, "Let's get to class."

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly.  
After school, GG went with Fabienne back to her place to watch 'The Bloodying Creatures' with her in place of Anette (It was either him or Fred but he was the one who lost the bet). So Fred was going to have to walk home alone.

On his way out, he happened to come across a red purse that was sitting under a tree. Fred looked around the area, but more than half of the students left already and the ones that were left all seemed to have a bag with them. So Fred picked up the purse and looked for a name tag. Sure enough, after digging under all kinds of art supplies, he found a photo of…  
Anette!  
On the other side was a note that said:  
IF FOUND, PLEASE RETURN TO ALVIA ST. 109.


	2. Chapter 2

Fred, despite his blasé persona, couldn't resist doing something helpful. So naturally, he asked a nearby cop where he could find Alvia street.  
"You rich or somethin' kid?" asked the cop.  
"No, just trying to return a purse," Fred replied.  
The cop told Fred the directions, then Fred thanked him and left.  
"You better be expectin' a big reward, I tell ya," he called back.

It was a bit of a long walk, but Fred eventually found the address.  
The mansion looked pretty standard. It was tall, grey, and had an iron gate in front of it. Fred walked through the gate, onto the porch, and rang the doorbell.

A tall man in a butler's uniform answered the door.  
"Good day, Sir. May I help you?"  
"Hi, I'm Fred Leblanc. I'm a friend of Anette's from school. I'm here to return her purse."  
"Hmmm… very well, Miss Freeze-Dright's room is upstairs, third door to the left."  
"Actually, I'd rather just leave it here and _you_ return it."  
The butler glared at him. _**"**_ I _ **insist."  
**_ "Okay, alright," said a reluctant Fred, "I'll just let myself in and tip you later, 'Jeeves'".  
The butler didn't seem amused, so Fred just casually walked past him to the stairs.

He thought he heard a whisper behind him, _"Finally, a boy!"_

The inside of the mansion was filled with all kinds of fancy Indian decorations and furniture.

When Fred got up the stairs to the third door to the left, he hesitated a little. He wasn't sure if he was ready to enter Anette's room, especially if she was in the middle of "communicating with the dead". But he knew what a gentleman had to do.  
He knocked on the door.  
No answer.  
He knocked again.  
No answer.  
He knocked again and said, "Hello? Anette? It's me, Fred. You forgot your purse at school."  
Still no answer.  
"Maybe she's so busy talking to ghosts," Fred thought, "she's losing her communication to the mortal world." He chuckled to himself.

He decided to just leave the purse on the doorknob and leave, when suddenly the door opened.  
"Oh! Hi Fred," said Anette, poking her head out.  
"Hey, Anette, you forgot your…"  
"Purse? Thank you. Bye."  
She quickly took the purse back and shut the door.

"Well, that went well," thought Fred.

He was just about to leave when Anette opened the door again.  
"Sorry," she said, "I'm just not used to having company when I'm in the middle of…"  
"…talking with dead people?" Fred interrupted.  
Anette sighed. "No. Actually, I have a confession to make. I'm not communicating with the dead, writing depressing poetry, or any of that creepy stuff. I never told anyone other than Fab, but since you're her friend, and, well, you're here, I might as well show you."  
Fred shrugged. "Sure, why not? As long as it's not creepy."

He walked into Anette's room.  
Just like the rest of the house, it was also Hindi influenced. But the most intriguing part was that the room was filled with art supplies and colorful paintings. Most of them were self-portraits of Anette herself.

"Did you paint all of these?" Fred asked.  
"Yes," said Anette, "I guess it's pretty weird having a hobby of painting myself."  
"Well, it's not talking to dead people," said Fred, "but yeah, it is a little weird."  
Anette sulked.  
"But that doesn't mean they're bad."  
"R-really?"  
"En contraire, these are far from bad. They're great!"  
Anette blushed. "You're just flattering me."  
"No, I mean it! You should consider signing up for the school's art committee."  
"What? No. I can't."  
"Why not? What's stopping you?"  
"It's just, I'm not sure they'd want me to join since I'm so, you know, enigmatic."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, that's kind of why I lied earlier. I'm dark and mysterious so it would make sense that I'd do dark and mysterious things as opposed to bright and colorful things."  
"Right, because the 'status quo' is so important."  
Anette smirked. "Was that another note of sarcasm?"

Fred walked up to Anette.  
"Listen," he said, "Remember when you stood up to those girls who made fun of you today? That was something I'd never expect from someone who's just plain 'dark and mysterious'. You're not a stereotype, and the fact you hide this talent just because it doesn't 'seem right' is pretty moldy."

"You know what?" said Anette, "You're right! I _can_ be unfathomable _and_ artistically colorful. In fact, first thing tomorrow, I will sign up for the art committee. Even if they won't accept me, at least I'll make an effort."  
She looked at Fred.  
"The truth is I've always wanted to, but never truly had the motivation until you talked some sense into me. Thank you."

She gave Fred a friendly kiss on the cheek.

Fred blushed. As he starred into Anette's dark eyes, he suddenly had a weird feeling flowing through him. Besides Fabienne, he was never this close to any girl before. He realized that underneath Anette's cool, mysterious, gothic exterior was a unique, intelligent, talented, and dare he say, beautiful young woman.  
There was no denying it. He was falling for her.

"Heh, heh. You know it's funny," said Fred, "I only wanted to return your purse, but I wouldn't have talked to you if your butler hadn't insisted that I come to your room."

Anette suddenly turned shocked.  
"What!?" she exclaimed, "How many times have I told Ragav not to set me up!?"  
"Huh? What are you talking about?" asked Fred.  
"I'm sorry," said Anette, "My butler, Ragav, is always trying to get me a boyfriend every time he gets a chance. But I've constantly told him I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now."  
"W-Why not?"  
"Because I'm too focused on my art to think about being in a relationship. Anyway, if I wanted to date someone, it would be a person who would take time to truly understand me and not just run into things."  
"Oh. I see," said Fred, a little heartbroken, "Well, I guess I'll be going then."  
"No, wait, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad in any way."  
"It's fine. Really. It's pretty late and I should probably get home now or my mom will kill me."  
"Okay then. I'll see you at school tomorrow?"  
"Yeah, sure. Bye."  
"Bye."

Once Fred was out of sight of the house, he facepalmed himself.  
"Moldy!" he said.  
Fred was anything _but_ fine. He just found the most amazing girl he'd ever known, just to find out she wasn't interested in him.  
There's only one person he'd talk to in times like this.

Fred walked over to the Clown Shop, a butcher place where the Pyrowski family worked.  
He opened the door and saw GG behind the counter.  
"Hey, GG."  
"Oh, hello Fred. Just do me a favor and kindly let _me_ win a bet next time. After seeing that movie with Fab, I feel like I'll have to wait a week until I get those horrible images out of my head!"  
"Maybe it'll help if I can change the subject."  
"Oh, of course. What's up?"  
"Well, let's just say I hate it when you're right."  
"Right about what? That vegans really _are_ freaks of nature?"  
"No, not that. It's just, I went to Anette's house today, one thing lead to another, and…"  
GG gasped.  
"I knew it! I knew there was potential between you two! So give me all the details. When's the first date? When's the wedding? How many children will you…"  
"There's no date, wedding, _or_ children! The fact is _I'm_ the one who's in love with _her,_ but it's not reciprocated!"  
"Oh, I-I'm so sorry Fred."  
"I never even had a chance to tell her. She said she was too focused on her art to think about being in a relationship right now."  
"My poor bosom buddy. Heartbroken like a Yorkshire pudding without… Wait, what were those last few words?"  
"'In a relationship right now'?"  
"She's not interested in you _right now_?"  
"Are you rubbing it in, or something?"  
"No, Fred. You still have a chance with Anette! She may be too focused on her work at the moment, but I believe someday in the future, she'll look past her art and finally realize that you are, in fact, her soulmate!"  
"Oh really? When?"  
"Who knows? It could be a while, but the important thing is that, just like the butcher who has constant trouble trying to prepare the perfect pork chop, you must never give up!"  
"Well, she also said that she wants to date someone who would take time to truly understand her and not just run into things."  
"Exactly! So don't rush things. Take your time and tell her your feelings once she knows you truly know her. It may be weeks, months, or even _two years_ , but I've got the utmost faith in you, Fred Leblanc."  
Fred smiled.  
"What would I do without a supportive friend like you?" he said.  
"No clue," replied GG.

* * *

Back at her mansion, Anette thought about how well Fred knocked sense into her. She also thought about how nice, understanding, helpful, funny…  
"No." she thought, "Impossible. He's obviously not interested in me anyway."  
Anette continued on her artwork with her thoughts for Fred completely leaving her mind.  
…for a while.

THE END


End file.
